It's been a few days since I posted,largely because I'm having a technical hitch posting photos and I LOVE taking photos.No blog should be without them!Anyway I decided to blog nevertheless and I'll worry about the problem later!
I haven't mentioned my Autistic son in a while.He doesn't (on the surface anyway) seem to do the same news worthy , inspirational activities of his siblings,largely because he still struggles to socialise or go out.Yesterday however, he told us that he had been studying the concept of feminism!
The subject he'd chosen was in itself a revelation but ,when he started to talk about the subject, he revealed a deep thinking,intelligent young boy with a strong sense of justice!
It appears he has been studying how inequality of the sexes came about! It started ,according to my son, because of physical differences.Stone age man were stronger than their wives, so off they went to work ,hunting and gathering whilst their wives stayed at home to look after the children.
My son kept referring to the men working 'harder' than the women and at first I thought I had a chauvinist in the making. I was wrong. Being autistic he was using the word "hard work" to mean 'heavy physical work' .Often autistic people can be misunderstood in this way,because although they can be very articulate and have a vast vocabulary they can sometimes misuse words which to us have a different meaning. That's why you really have to get to know an autistic person really well to understand them. I often say to my son that we use the same words but speak a different language.
He explained that there are some jobs where he would prefer to appoint a man e.g. a fireman who was stronger and able to carry him down a ladder out of a fire and other jobs where a woman would usually be better e.g. a secretary because of their ability to multi- task.It was clear as I deliberately threw opposing points of view at him,that he was of the opinion that they were both equal in their differences! I did wonder if he had read the book Why Men don't listen and Women can't read Maps.!
In his research he had covered The Suffragettes, the role of Women during World War 2 and their entrance into the workplace after the war and the strikes at The Dagenham Car plant for equal pay for women. What sparked his interest and how he came to think about the subject I have no idea! But take heart.I promise you that whilst your child may not appear to you to be doing anything remotely educational at all.They most certainly are!
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